Grand National trainer Donald McCain: I thought dad would just go on forever

The McCain family are an integral part of the Grand National's history (Image: Racing Post)

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Whatever the fate of Ballabriggs as he bids for a repeat victory in today’s John Smith’s Grand National, a day of raw emotion awaits the 11-year-old’s trainer, Donald McCain.

McCain was three months short of his fourth birthday when Red Rum followed up his dramatic 1973 triumph 12 months later.

‘Rummy’ would finish second twice before sending Aintree into frenzied celebration with his success in 1977 – his victory strides conferring on McCain’s father Ginger the status of a sporting icon.

No-one spoke of the world’s greatest steeplechase without mentioning Ginger, who rose from the humdrum surrounds of his Southport second-hand car lot – driving a taxi in his spare time – to become one of the turf’s most celebrated figures. But Ginger, back in the limelight after Ballabriggs’ defeat of Oscar Time in 2011, lost his fight with cancer at the age of 80 last September.

Irreverent, outspoken and never happier than when shocking a crowd that hung on his every last word, the death of the old man – who also saddled Amberleigh House to score in 2004 – has left a void.

“Everything’s still a bit hollow,” reflects McCain. “There’s just a little bit missing all the time. Every time you go back to the house, you still expect to find him sitting there on the sofa.”

The 41-year-old, who took over his father’s training licence at the Bankhouse stables in Cholmondeley in Cheshire in the summer of 2006, is already embedded in training’s elite.

Only Paul Nicholls and Nicky Henderson have won more prize money this season, and McCain showcased his talents with a double – Cinders And Ashes and Son Of Flicka – at last month’s Cheltenham Festival.

“Both the Cheltenham winners were bought by Dad. He was frowned upon in a number of quarters, but we all knew he wasn’t a one-horse trainer.

“He had a great self-belief, knowing that he could do the job when he got the chance if he could buy the right horses – which he has proved, and hopefully I’m proving for him.

“Every time you have a good day, you wish he’d still have been here to see it, and, when you have a bad day, he’d have put it in perspective.

“Last year I was a little bit naïve. Dad hadn’t been well, but, Dad being Dad, I thought he’d be around forever.

“It wasn’t until afterwards that you sit down and think about it, and know what it meant at the time.

“Everything we did, you would wonder, ‘What would Dad think of that?’ I still do now.”

But now another National has to be won and McCain is buoyant assessing Ballabriggs’ chance – despite the fact Jason Maguire’s mount having to cope with a 10lb rise in the weights.

“Nobody’s saying it’s going to be an easy task but if ever a horse was going to be able to carry weight, it’s him. He’s a great, strong horse – he carries himself and he’s got a lot of presence.

“I don’t think you ever know until you get there, but we can only go on what we see at home, and his work is as good as it’s ever been, if not better.

“He’s going to need to be, but he could conceivably still be improving.”

McCain sent his stable star – who is joined in the National line-up by stablemate Weird Al – went to Kelso for his warm up last month, as he did 12 months previously.

He returned fourth and some pundits were underwhelmed — a couple of bookies even pushed out Ballabriggs’ Aintree odds as a result.

But racehorse trainers condition their charges for targets, and it’s April 14 that is in McCain’s cross-hairs, not March 3.

“One thing Dad taught me – if I’ve got a target for one day, it’s about that one day, not beforehand. I was delighted with the Kelso run and Jason got off and told me he’s as good as ever.”

McCain doesn’t share his late father’s fondness for verbal donnybrook, and Ginger didn’t pass on his love of the bar-room vernacular, either.

But the pair spoke with one voice over the need for the racing parish to defend the Grand National – the unique pact between horse and rider.

“You may have more fashionable and fancier races, but this is the greatest test of a thoroughbred racehorse that there is – pure and simple,” argues McCain, who actually rode in the race in his youth.

“No matter how you keep softening things up, there’s always going to be people taking a punt on a horse that hasn’t performed at that level – if you’ve got a horse that jumps 4ft 8in, you take a chance jumping 4ft 10in with it.

“However much you change things, there’s always going to be a horse punching above its weight.”

“But there is no argument against it. It is the greatest test – on a number of levels – of a thoroughbred athlete.”

McCain doesn’t need the National like his father did. He has a burgeoning 110-strong cavalry – Ginger had just 30, and owned many himself, when Amberleigh House came from nowhere to collar the legless Clan Royal eight years ago.

But there’s no semblance of hesitation as he credits Ballabriggs’ achievement as “absolutely” the peak of his career.

“I was very involved with ‘Amberleigh’ – I used to ride him every day,” he remembers. “We had nothing else.

“At the time we only had one good horse in the place, and all our eggs were in one basket.

“Now we have other targets throughout the year and we have other big days – if one doesn’t come off, we have other shots to fire.

“But don’t get me wrong – that doesn’t make it any less important. It’s Aintree, it’s the Grand National. We don’t need an incentive to get excited.”